Halloweentown star quit acting and now has a completely different career
Phillip Van Dyke swapped the bright lights of Hollywood for a completely different career after walking away from acting more than two decades ago.
The 42-year-old actor is best remembered for playing Luke, the mischievous goblin who befriends Marnie Piper, played by Kimberly J. Brown, in the beloved 1998 Disney film Halloweentown.
He reprised the role in the 2001 sequel Halloweentown II: Kalabar's Revenge, and also voiced Arnold in Nickelodeon's Hey Arnold!
Despite appearing in the likes of Gilmore Girls, NYPD Blue and The Amanda Show, he decided to leave showbusiness behind in 2003.
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Van Dyke subsequently pursued a career in financial services, revealing in a 2015 interview with Bustle that he had become a sales manager.
He explained: "I run a sales floor for a financial services company.
We help investors from all around the world buy and sell stocks, currencies and commodities.
"I manage the whole sales floor, but I also take appointments and deal directly with larger clients who are investing significant sums of money."
The former Disney star is a father of three and married Jennifer Van Dyke in 2009, with his current relationship status unconfirmed.
His children include daughter Paris, 24, and son Flynn, 15, although he has largely kept his family life private.
"Paris has seen Halloweentown and is familiar with Hey Arnold and different things I have done. I was still involved with acting when she was very young, so she has some memory of it," he said at the time.
“Flynn has also watched Halloweentown and he thinks it's funny to see me on TV, but he doesn't really 'get it' yet.”
Looking back on his career, Van Dyke said he would have liked to work alongside Hannah Montana star Miley Cyrus.
"When I was younger, I always liked Even Stevens, that seemed like it would have been fun show to work on with a likable cast," he said.
"I definitely wouldn't have minded working alongside Miley Cyrus either!"
Speaking to E! News in 2020, he admitted he had been surprised by how popular the Halloweentown movies still are.
"When you realize that [the films] had such an impact on people and that they're still fans and they're still watching these films every single year, it is pretty incredible," he said. "It's something that I try not to take for granted.
When asked if he would return for a fifth Halloweentown film, Van Dyke said, “If the rest of the cast came back and wanted to do that, I would be up for it.”
Anish Vij